Recent developments are pushing disclosure-only settlements, commonly known as “mootness fee” settlements, into the forefront of M&A lawsuits.  Dealmakers are faced with an unclear decision on the benefits associated with these types of settlements that have no certified class, no class notice, and very limited judicial oversight of the fee arrangement between adversarial parties. 

Alarmingly, a recent study found the percent of federal M&A cases resulted in mootness fees was 60% with the typical fee ranging from $50,000 to $300,000.  For now, defendant corporations appear to have a roadmap to preventing mootness fee settlements from...

This discussion examined deal structures and terms that may be employed to bridge gaps between buyers and sellers. 

Brett Shawn, Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Warburg Pincus; Michael Wolf, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at Baxter International; and Elizabeth Donley, Partner at Hogan Lovells considered various forms of consideration and pricing formulations, including working capital and "locked-box" adjustments, fixed price/exchange ratio collars, valuation and earnout mechanisms, and other practical considerations relevant to M&A negotiations and...

Based on current geopolitical and economic conditions, the authors of this paper provide a checklist of shifting M&A issues that practitioners should carefully consider in advance of an acquisition in the U.S. 

Recent changes, including the effect of lower corporate taxes in increasing the amount of cash that corporations can dedicate to debt reduction after an acquisition, have created more opportunities for profitable deals, whereas geopolitical tides and increased CFIUS scrutiny should be carefully considered before...

This discussion considered the environment for spin-off transactions and offered specific guidance on the disposal process and common deal terms including transition services agreements, the sufficiency of assets and financial statements representations, and the structure of escrow or holdback mechanisms to cover the seller’s indemnification obligations.

During this discussion, Sergio Letelier, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel - Corporate, Securities and M&A at Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Chandradev Mehta, Director, Strategic Planning and Transactions at LyondellBasell; and Kevin Freeman, Chief Counsel, Securities & Transactions at Tenneco considered the environment for spin-off transactions and offered specific guidance on...

Pro-sandbagging clauses are becoming an increasingly negotiated term in acquisition agreements designed to indemnify informed buyers.

A “pro-sandbagging” clause is a provision in the acquisition agreement preserving a buyer’s ability to bring a claim post-transaction even if they had knowledge of the issue prior to the closing.  This paper discusses the buyer’s and seller’s arguments regarding pro-sandbagging provisions in M&A agreements including...

Structuring joint ventures and minority investments entails a difficult balance of interests, finances, and governance between cooperative parties.

To effectively complement a more traditional M&A strategy, these transactions need to create a partnership culture while incorporating appropriate...

Most often, a Reverse Morris Trust transaction involves publicly traded companies, referred to as Parent and RMT Partner, whereby Parent contributes a to-be-divested business to a new or existing holding company, referred to as Spinco. Parent then distributes all of Spinco’s equity to its stockholders.

The paper provides a comprehensive discussion of Reverse Morris Trust tax requirements, valuation and economics, and corporate/securities law issues, which includes...

This session provided guidance on M&A provisions that anticipate protectionist views, antitrust challenges, and other regulatory outcomes.

The participants – Stacy Frazier, Executive Counsel, Competition Law and Policy at GE and Michael Hartman, Assistant General Counsel for AT&T - commented on models for incorporating the risk of political and regulatory uncertainty into deal terms through…

A lack of value-creation, regulatory hurdles, and political issues are the most common causes of abandoned mergers and acquisitions transactions, according to this report, which recommends approaches for deal transparency, mutual bargaining, and active political landscape monitoring.  The study analyzed 265 canceled deals, generally finding that the larger the transaction, the more likely it was to fail. 

While executives have limited control over some factors, M&A professionals can head off abandoned deal processes by improving.....

This conversation explored the unique considerations Special Committees and management face when pursuing an unwilling or reluctant acquisition target. 

The discussion with Sergio Letelier, Deputy General Counsel – Corporate, Securities, and M&A at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Margot Miller, Global Legal Director of Commercial and Mergers and Acquisitions at Anheuser-Busch InBev considered a range of approaches from a “bear hug” offer to a fully hostile proxy contest. Variations in both domestic and international M&A practice were considered as well as....